The present invention relates to dental appliances and systems and methods for distributing dental appliances. More specifically, the present invention relates to dental appliances which may be pre-formed and/or customized for an individual. The dental appliances may be distributed in various venues, such as, for example, care provider offices, department stores, pharmacies, or other venues.
It is generally known to provide dental care to a patient. Typically, the patient may visit, for example, a dentist or other type of care provider at the office of the care provider. The dentist, for example, may then examine the patient using various techniques, including x-raying the area to be treated and/or other impression-taking techniques, such as study models. The dentist may then provide the patient with a dental appliance to treat the condition of the patient. For example, a patient may have an overbite which may require a dental appliance to be placed within the mouth of the patient for an amount of time. The dentist treating the patient may take an impression of an interior of the mouth of the patient. The models may be used to determine a size or a shape of a dental appliance which may be worn by the patient to treat the overbite.
In some cases, a patient may require a number of subsequent visits to the office of a dentist to treat a dental condition. The subsequent visits may include adjustments or alterations of the appliance or other follow-up services that may be performed on the patient. The subsequent visits may also include additional dental appliances provided to the patient to address, for example, different stages of treatment of a dental condition. As a result, an overall cost of the dental care provided to the patient may increase substantially. Further, potential patients may be adverse to seeking dental care because of the substantial costs associated with dental services and/or dental appliances, as well as the time commitment necessary for the dental visits including, examination, diagnosis and follow-up care.
A need, therefore, exists for dental appliances and systems and methods of distributing dental appliances wherein an amount of interaction between the care provider and the patient is reduced or eliminated.